Spicy Southwest Turkey Burgers With Garlic Aioli

This is a very zesty, garlicky, and spicy turkey burger that even my husband who normally does not like turkey burgers, well he raves about them. I like to put these on toasted buns and top the burger with pepper jack cheese. To kick up the spiciness to the next level add 1/2 teaspoon cayenne. If you can find it, I highly recommend using smoked salt. It adds an awesome smoky flavor to these, I always use it.

• Ready In: 20 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• Burgers

• 1 1⁄4 lbs lean ground turkey
• 3  garlic cloves, very finely chopped
• 1⁄2 red onion, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1⁄2 small  roasted red pepper, about 4-5 strips, diced
• 1  teaspoon  dried chipotle powder
• 1  teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 -2  teaspoon  cayenne  hot sauce, several drops (recommended Tabasco)
• 1  teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 1  teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

• Garlic Aioli

• 1⁄2 cup low-fat mayonnaise
• 2  garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1⁄2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1⁄2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce or 1⁄2 teaspoon  other  pepper sauce
•  salt and pepper, to taste
• 1⁄2 teaspoon spicy mustard (optional)

Directions

1. Chop your garlic and veggies.
2. Sauté garlic and onion in olive oil on low heat for 7-10 minutes until soft and very light golden brown.
3. Then combine turkey meat, garlic, onion, oil that you cooked garlic and onion in (very important), thyme, chipotle powder (or you could use one chipotle in adobo diced), roasted pepper, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, hot pepper sauce, or salt and pepper. Be careful not to overmix!
4. Divide mixture into 4 equal mounds then form meat into patties. Drizzle patties with a little olive oil to coat. Cook in skillet over medium high heat for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Place sliced cheese over the patties in the last 2 minutes of cooking, use 1 or 2 slices for each patty, as you like. slather buns with Garlic Aioli.
5. If you want to decrease the heat use plain old chili powder instead of chipotle and cut it back to 1/2 teaspoon.
6. For Garlic Aioli.
7. Mince garlic very fine, I like to sprinkle mine with salt and mash it but totally optional. Mix all ingredients together in small bowl, this will taste even better if it sits a while and will keep in the fridge for almost a week.
8. Pile cooked cheeseburgers into buns. Serve and enjoy!